If the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party must be played in Atlanta for a year, 2026 seems to be the perfect time to do it.
The Georgia-Florida rivalry game — traditionally played at a neutral site in Jacksonville, Florida — will likely have extra Peach State flavor, with two of the most dominant quarterbacks in Georgia high school football history being projected to start for the Bulldogs and Gators.
UGA’s incumbent starter, Gunner Stockton, famously hails from North Georgia’s Rabun County. Stockton threw the most passing touchdowns of any high school quarterback in state history (177) as a four-year starter for the Wildcats.
Before Aaron Philo shone at Georgia Tech and transferred to Florida, he led Prince Avenue Christian to consecutive state championships. Philo also broke Georgia’s all-time passing yards record (13,922) as a three-year starter.
The potential Halloween matchup — which, coincidentally, falls just six days before Prince Avenue is scheduled to end the regular season at Rabun County — would be a climactic culmination of near misses over the past six years. Stockton and Philo have shared the field three times since 2020 but have never actually played against each other.
The first time the two former AJC Super 11 selections shared the field was Week 2 of the 2020 high school season. Stockton was a junior committed to South Carolina, and No. 1 Rabun County was hosting No. 3 Prince Avenue Christian in a small-school showdown televised on ESPNU.
Philo was a freshman backing up 5-star senior Brock Vandagriff, who signed with Georgia and eventually became Kentucky’s starting quarterback. National storylines highlighted a showdown between two future SEC quarterbacks but overlooked the third on the sideline.
“It was a heavyweight battle,” then-Rabun County coach Jaybo Shaw said. “You were just getting the absolute best from two of the best at that position coming out of high school at the time, and just to be part of the game. And it was really fun to not even coach but just watch those two competitors compete.”
Stockton willed the Wildcats to a 38-31 win. He totaled 346 yards of offense with five total touchdowns, including a go-ahead, 32-yard throw with 2:19 remaining.
“To me, really in high school, he looked more like a linebacker playing that Jim McMahon, kind of old-school run hard and physical,” then-Prince Avenue Christian coach Greg Vandagriff said. “They would get in the empty and run counter trey, and heck, you couldn’t stop him, you know?”
Stockton and Philo were both backup quarterbacks for their next meeting: Georgia’s 44-42 defeat of Georgia Tech in 2024. Stockton started in the in-state rivalry game last season, and Philo backed up then-senior quarterback Haynes King at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The quarterbacks will meet again at Atlanta’s largest venue, which has hosted career-defining moments for both players. Stockton has won two SEC championships in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and Philo finished his high school career there by breaking Georgia’s career passing record and winning his second state title.
Both quarterbacks showed they could handle the elevated stage before they graduated high school.
Philo proved his grit to Vandagriff in his first two weeks as Prince Avenue Christian’s starter in 2021. The defending champion Wolverines opened the season at Calvary Day, which also started a future SEC quarterback.
Prince Avenue Christian was locked in a low-scoring game in the third quarter when Vandagriff said Philo threw the ugliest interception he had ever seen. Philo tried to throw a pass as a Calvary Day defender was throwing him to the ground.
“He’s literally throwing him around in a circle, and like a hot potato, Aaron throws the ball over his shoulder, and we’re on the sideline going, ‘What is he doing?’” Vandagriff said. “We’re thinking, obviously, he’s trying not to take a sack, but what he ends up doing is throwing it literally to the middle linebacker that’s five yards past the line of scrimmage.”
The interception proved costly, and Philo lost his first start 21-13. The young quarterback’s response wasn’t just impressive — it was historic.
The Wolverines hosted Christian Academy of Knoxville the next week in a high-profile out-of-state matchup. Statistically, Philo had the best game of his career, throwing for 557 yards in a 59-18 win. It’s the fifth-most passing yards ever thrown in a GHSA game.
“Honestly, the rest is just history,” Vandagriff said. “I mean, he goes on from there and just plays with confidence, and goes up there and plays every week and leads us to three state title games, winning two of them.”
Stockton showed Shaw a similar determination across his four years as Rabun County’s starter. Stockton didn’t prove it with a game, though.
For Shaw, it was Stockton’s consistency outside Friday night, despite the national attention he got as a blue-chip recruit.
“He got invited to obviously everything in the country as far as getting recruited,” Shaw said. “The Elite 11 out in Oregon, or wherever it’s at, and all these camps and all these showcases to go be seen, and Gunner Stockton never missed a workout, a summer practice.
“I mean, he never missed anything in his four years at Rabun.”
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